Reborn as a Landlord-Chapter 173 - 88 Courtesy Calls for Reciprocity_1

Chapter 173: Chapter 88 Courtesy Calls for Reciprocity_1
"We don’t want money," Lian Manman said willingly this time.
Upon seeing Lian Manman say this, Wu Lang thought she had come to understand, and suddenly forgot about his sore foot, a smile appearing on his face. Manman liked to make money, but she wasn’t greedy for it.
Seeing that both Wu Lang and Lian Manman refused compensation, Lian Zhizhi and Xiao Qi naturally nodded in agreement.
"If not money, then what do you want?" Shen Liu seemed amused, and his phoenix eyes inquisitively looked at Lian Manman as he asked.
"Nothing at all, we have no demands," Lian Manman responded.
"Oh?" Shen Liu slightly raised his eyebrows. Lian Manman should have understood that he intended to give her silver because of that incident, and whatever amount she asked for, he would have given her. Just now, he saw that the girl clearly seemed to want the silver, but then she suddenly gave him a sidelong glance. He was wondering if she would make some bold request. But now, she wanted nothing, which was truly interesting.
Even though he was already familiar with this girl’s intelligence and sense of propriety, her current behavior still slightly surprised him. He had initially thought she would ask for a sum of silver.
Wanting nothing, Shen Liu laughed.
Lian Manman saw Shen Liu laughing, and this time, she was sure it was not an illusion.
"That’s fine," Shen Liu said, his voice revealing a hint of lightheartedness. Those who knew him well understood this meant he was very happy.
"Bring a bottle of wound medicine," Shen Liu ordered.
Soon, an attendant hurriedly presented a small porcelain bottle. Shen Liu waved his hand, signaling the attendant to hand the wound medicine to Lian Manman. The attendant then walked over and passed the small porcelain bottle to her.
Lian Manman took the porcelain bottle, which was only about the size of Xiao Qi’s palm. It felt very smooth to the touch and was clearly finely crafted. Opening the stopper, she saw a dark brown powder inside, which emitted a faint medicinal fragrance.
"I’ve heard that country households have their own remedies for treating injuries. Their effectiveness is... passable at best. Better to use this," Shen Liu said slowly.
Offering them wound medicine was naturally for Wu Lang and Xiao Qi to use. And mentioning the home remedies, did Shen Liu have experience with them? Oh, of course, he did — she had used a horse hoof wrap to stop his bleeding last time. But what did he mean by ’passable at best’? Lian Manman hummed inwardly, ’passable at best’ was certainly better than bleeding to death, after all.
From their brief interactions, Lian Manman had already somewhat grasped Shen Liu’s temperament. She should take his words as a form of gratitude towards her.
"Is the carriage ready?" Shen Liu asked the attendant by his side.
"It’s already prepared," the attendant busily answered.
"It’s getting late; time to leave."
As he spoke, two carriages turned out of some alley and stopped outside the teahouse.
Shen Liu then stood up to leave, and Shen Qian, a little reluctant to part, glanced back at Lian Manman before being surrounded by servants and attendants, and walked out.
Lian Manman and company also followed downstairs, watching Shen Liu preparing to leave the teahouse.
"Wait," Lian Manman called out in a hurry.
Shen Liu didn’t turn around immediately, but the corners of his mouth turned up slightly. Was this girl, Lian Manman, unable to resist making a condition after all?
Lian Manman brought over the half-basket of garlic-flavored peanuts and hurried over to Shen Liu.
"This is from our own harvest of peanuts, cleaned quite thoroughly. I offer it for Sixth Master and... Ninth Master to try," Lian Manman said.
"Oh," was all Shen Liu replied.
As Shen Liu remained silent, no one dared to reach for the basket in Lian Manman’s hands. However, Shen Qian happily ran over and took the basket of peanuts from her.
"Manman, are these peanuts you made tasty?"
"Of course, they are." Lian Manman said.
"Hmm, the pancakes from your house were quite delicious last time." Fatty Shen expressed his belief in Lian Manman’s words.
Shen Liu nodded to the attendants next to him, and an attendant came over to take the basket from Shen Qian’s hands.
"Let’s go, Qian’er." Shen Liu called out.
Shen Qian felt reluctant and slowly walked back to Shen Liu’s side.
Shen Liu walked with Shen Qian towards the exit, but when they reached the door, he stopped.
"If you ever encounter any problem you can’t resolve in the future, come to the Shi Mansion in this town and have them send a message to me."
"Okay." Lian Manman had been waiting for Shen Liu to say this. She mentally struck a victory pose, smiling broadly as she agreed. Her decision not to ask for silver was correct; a promise like Shen Liu’s was invaluable.
Future events would prove how wise Lian Manman’s choice was, yet at that moment, she didn’t fully realize the true worth of Shen Liu’s promise.
Shen Liu took Shen Qian to the carriage, which did not leave immediately. Several attendants and stewards stood by the carriage, seemingly awaiting Shen Liu’s instructions. One of the stewards bowed to the carriage briefly and then turned towards a carriage at the back.
Soon after, the steward returned with a square box in his hand and approached Lian Manman.
"Our Sixth Master says thank you for the lady’s gift. This is the Sixth Master’s return gift. It’s a bit modest due to the hasty preparations on the journey, but please accept it." The steward opened the square box, which contained two pieces of brocade, two envelopes with a total of twenty taels of silver, a folding fan, and a box of tea leaves. Lian Manman knew that these weren’t prepared especially for them; big households always had such ’All-cure Oil’ gifts ready for unexpected needs when traveling.
Still, the fact that a return gift was sent in a box and that Shen Liu was engaging in reciprocal gift-giving delighted Lian Manman more than the gifts themselves.
After a slight show of refusal, Lian Manman accepted the gifts. She then watched as Shen Liu’s carriage departed before leaving the teahouse with the children.
Although their business was disrupted today, they had unexpectedly gained a lot, and it was a big gain at that.
Lian Manman calculated her family’s financial situation and felt more confident. She decided to indulge a little today.
The peanuts they brought out today, ten jin were given to Wang Youheng, and the remaining six jin to Shen Liu. They sold twelve jin and earned a total of 240 Wen Money. She decided to spend exactly that amount of 240 Wen Money.
"What should we buy?" Lian Manman asked the others for their opinions.
Xiao Qi loved the steamed buns from Chen’s, so they went there first and bought twenty with meatball filling. Then they went to the butcher’s shop and weighed four jin of ribs. Lian Manman saw some fresh pork liver and bought a piece as well. She loved sautéed liver tips, but in her previous life, she had to control herself, eating it no more than once a month. That was because pork often contained too many hormones, and the liver, being a detoxifying organ, would accumulate many toxins and hormones. But now, she didn’t have to worry about that. Here, the pigs were often raised on bran and vegetables, completely green and unpolluted. Then they also bought some pastries and miscellaneous items.
Having spent all the 240 Wen Money, the children, each carrying a basket of items, happily headed back to the village.
As soon as they entered, they saw Lian Shouli walking out with a dung basket in hand.
When Lian Manman saw what was in the dung basket, she was a bit surprised.
"Uncle, what are you doing?"
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First update for today. If there are 310 pink comments, there will be a bonus Chapter. Afterwards, every 10 votes will result in an additional Chapter. It’s the second last day of the month, and Ruoyan’s position on the newcomer rankings is precarious; continued support is needed. Please cast your pink votes, and there will be bonus Chapters. (To be continued. If you like this work, you are welcome to come to Qidian (qidian.com) to vote for recommendation tickets and monthly tickets. Your support is my greatest motivation.)