Reborn as a Landlord-Chapter 251 - 131: Sneak Eating_2

Chapter 251: Chapter 131: Sneak Eating_2
Lady Zhou was furious. She felt that Lady He’s beating of Liulang was a show of defiance, not putting her in her eyes as the mother-in-law. Of course, if Lady He didn’t beat Liulang, she would think that Lady He was indulging the child and not taking her seriously either.
"Are you beating him to death to show me?" Lady Zhou pointed at Lady He and scolded, "If you kill him, there will be meat for tomorrow. A good child has been led astray by you, a gluttonous and lazy woman, and now you have the audacity to take credit..."
The ruckus outside was getting louder, with both Liulang and Si Lang crying loudly, and Lady He and Lady Zhou slapping their hands and sobbing plaintively.
Old Master Lian, along with other members of the Lian Family, also came out of their houses. Everyone stood in the courtyard, preventing Lady He from hitting Liulang any further, and at the same time trying to soothe Lady Zhou.
Manman and the others backed away, and she noticed that everyone’s attention was focused on Lady Zhou and Lady He. She couldn’t help but glance towards the shed.
"Hmm." Manman stroked her chin, her eyes spinning with thoughts.
"Big sister." Xiao Qi tugged at Manman’s clothes and made a gesture towards the shed with her big eyes.
"Just take the meatballs, not the braised meat." Manman whispered to Xiao Qi, taking advantage of the moment when no one was paying attention to them, to sneak out some meatballs to eat.
Xiao Qi, seeing Manman’s agreement, immediately smiled with her eyes narrowed. Zhizhi and Manman stood together; Zhizhi wanted to stop them, but Xiao Qi had already darted into the shed.
Zhizhi looked at Manman helplessly.
Manman giggled and signaled Zhizhi to help cover for Xiao Qi. Zhizhi had no choice but to agree. Manman then waved over Wu Lang, Zhang Caiyun, and Yeye. The children, without words, understood each other’s intentions from their expressions. They lined up to form a human wall, shielding Xiao Qi as he smuggled a big bowl of meatballs into the West Wing Room.
At that moment, Old Master Lian had given his orders. Lian Shouyi and Lady He, together with Si Lang and Liulang, went back to the East Wing Room, while Lady Zhou took Lady Zhang and Lady Zhao into the shed to clean up the aftermath.
The children returned to the West Wing Room, gathered around the big bowl of meatballs, and laughed gleefully.
"We won’t be found out, will we?" Zhizhi said.
"No way, I scooped these meatballs directly from the big basin." Xiao Qi puffed out her chest proudly.
"It should be fine," Manman said, with the current chaos, even if Lady Zhou noticed the meatballs were missing, she would just think that Si Lang and Liulang had eaten them, hehe.
"They’re still warm, let’s eat." Manman picked up a meatball and handed it to Xiao Qi first.
"Hmm, delicious." Xiao Qi took it and ate with relish.
Zhizhi and Wu Lang, being slightly older, thought this behavior was rather reckless.
"Brother, sister, you two worry too much," Manman said. "Didn’t mother say that there were plenty of meatballs? It’s the braised meat that is more precious."
Lady Zhang was helping Chef He as an assistant, so she knew exactly how much of each dish there was and whether it was enough. There was only so much meat purchased with no surplus, but frying a few more meatballs only meant a bit more flour and oil. Chef He, who organized many feasts, was well-versed in the ways of rural households and deliberately fried extra meatballs as a leeway for children to "steal."
It was common to fry extra meatballs for the children to enjoy during family events. Manman thought that Si Lang and Liulang had gone to steal meatballs, which she didn’t consider a big deal. But to her surprise, they also took braised meat. Taking a slice or two was one thing, but they were too greedy. If there wasn’t enough braised meat for tomorrow’s meal, that would be a problem.
Lady Zhou was angry precisely because of this.
Manman made sense, and with their concerns alleviated, everyone happily started eating the meatballs. However, when Lady Zhang returned, she caught them in the act. Manman quickly gestured to Xiao Qi to go over and hug Lady Zhang’s legs.
"Mother, we didn’t take much..." Manman also tried to ingratiate herself with Lady Zhang.
Lady Zhang shook her head helplessly. These things happened in every household; the children were sensible and wouldn’t eat too much. Everyone who saw them just laughed it off. She believed that the children were not snatching meatballs out of gluttony, but for fun. Thankfully, they still had a sense of proportion.
"You guys, don’t let it happen next time. If there aren’t enough meatballs, none of us will be able to withstand your grandmother’s scolding," Lady Zhang said.
Knowing that Lady Zhang said this meant there was no problem, Manman also began to giggle.
The next day, everyone got up early as usual and began to bustle about. The feast was set to start in the early afternoon. The villagers, who had already sent their gifts, would come to attend the feast before it began.
Just after breakfast, Scholar Zhao’s Wife and Scholar Li’s Wife from the town came with their gifts. This time Lady Gu, Lady Chiang, and Huahua personally went to receive and entertain them. The two scholars’ wives brought fine silk and in addition, a pair of silver bracelets, which were considered quite generous gifts for a rural family.
The visitors from the previous day were mostly relatives and friends of the Lian Family. Today’s guests, however, were close to Lady Gu in town. Both Scholars Zhao and Li had prospects of passing the higher examinations next year.
Yeye carried a tea tray with two steaming cups of tea. Huahua took it at the door and brought it inside, wiping the rim of the cups with a handkerchief before offering the tea to Scholar Zhao’s Wife first.
Seeing the clear tea, Scholar Zhao’s Wife praised it with an "Excellent tea."
"This tea was personally brewed by Huahua," Lady Gu said.
Scholar Zhao’s Wife lifted the tea bowl, took a small sip, and her smile suddenly froze.
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