Reborn as a Landlord-Chapter 174 - 89章 Chive Blossoms_1

Chapter 174: 89章 Chive Blossoms_1
It had reached the second night watch when a request came for pink powder.
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"Manman, have you all returned from the market?" Lian Shouli greeted Manman and the others warmly, "See, your grandma said the chives have been infested with worms, so she asked to cut them all down."
Lian Shouli was carrying a dustpan full of chives, which had been taken directly out of the ground with a shovel. Chives are a common vegetable in the countryside, which can be planted from chive seeds. The Lian Family had planted three beds of chives, and each autumn when the chives were out of season, they would cut down the chives as they were doing now, right along with their roots. The roots left in the ground would sprout new chives in the coming spring after one or two spring rains.
However, it seemed a bit early to cut down the chives now. Manman grabbed a handful of chives to inspect and indeed, some of the leaves bore the marks of insect bites. In this era, there were no chemical pesticides, and chives were prone to pests, but such a small number of worms wasn’t a big deal.
"Uncle, isn’t it a bit early? There aren’t that many worms." Manman still wanted to enjoy a few more meals with chives, such as scrambled eggs with chives, chive-stuffed pancakes, and chive dumplings.
"I said the same, but your grandma insisted on doing it now," Lian Shouli said honestly.
Within the Lian Family, household matters were dictated by Lady Zhou. Whatever Lady Zhou said was right, even when it was not, nobody except Old Master Lian had the right to question her. Whoever dared to express even a slightly different opinion would have to brace themselves for Lady Zhou’s tempest.
"Uncle, don’t cut them all down; leave some for my family," Manman pleaded with Lian Shouli. Without a refrigerator, chives couldn’t be kept for long, but if cut and stored in a cool place, they could still last a couple of days.
"Your aunt has already picked some out and sent them to your mom," Lian Shouli said. Lian Shouli and Lian Shouxin got along well; among the four brothers, the two of them were closest. Moreover, Lady Zhang and the children like Manman always looked out for Lady Zhao and Lian Yeye. Since splitting the household, the two branches of the family had grown even closer.
"Then I must thank my aunt," Manman responded gratefully.
"Thanks for what, we’re all family. You should head back in; you’ve been gone half the day, your dad and mom were just worrying about you," Lian Shouli said.
"Alright," Manman replied, watching as Lian Shouli carried the dustpan out the door. Deep down, she still felt it was a waste to discard the chives like that. But without a refrigerator, even if they had one, the chives couldn’t be stored for too long.
"Uncle, wait a moment," Manman suddenly had an idea and called out to Lian Shouli.
"What is it?" Lian Shouli stopped and asked Manman.
"Uncle, don’t throw away these cut chives, give them to me," Manman told Lian Shouli.
"Manman, they are full of pests; what do you want them for? The ones left for your family are enough to last for two to three days," Lian Shouli said, puzzled.
"Uncle, just don’t worry about it; just give all these chives to me. I have a use for them," Manman assured him with a smile.
"Alright then," Lian Shouli agreed, nodding his head.
"Uncle, just place the cut chives under the window sill, in a shady spot," Manman instructed with a plan in mind, before she hurried off with Lian Zhizhi and the others towards the West Wing Room.
"Why did you take so long? Didn’t I tell you if the peanuts can’t be sold, to bring them back for us to eat?" Lady Zhang, relieved to see the children return, could not help but chide them, "If you hadn’t come back soon, your father and I were about to go looking for you..."
Lady Zhang was sitting on the edge of the kang bed, wearing an outfit meant for going out, evidently, she had been just about to go find them. Lady Zhang’s health had already improved, and if it weren’t for Manman insisting she complete a full thirty-day recovery period, she would have been working in the fields already.
"Wu Lang, why is there a cut on the corner of your mouth?" Lady Zhang suddenly noticed an injury on Wu Lang’s face and stopped her reproach to ask anxiously.
"I..." Wu Lang scratched his head, seemingly at a loss for words.
Lian Shouxin also noticed a finger mark on Xiao Qi’s neck and stood up abruptly from the edge of the kang.
"What’s happened, who bullied you?" Lian Shouxin asked urgently. The injuries on Wu Lang and Xiao Qi were clearly inflicted by someone else. Lian Shouxin knew his children’s characters; they wouldn’t provoke others, so it must have been them who were bullied.
"Dad, Mom, don’t worry yet," Manman saw Lian Shouxin and Lady Zhang looking concerned and quickly gestured with her hands, "Look, we are all fine now... There was a bit of an incident..."
The children took turns explaining the events that had occurred in town to Lian Shouxin and Lady Zhang. Of course, Manman omitted the fact that she and Shen Liu had known each other before.