Reborn as a Landlord-Chapter 41 - 25 Torture_2

Chapter 41: Chapter 25 Torture_2
Grandma Li Si, Lady Zhou, Grandma Li Si, Lady Gu, Lian Huahua and Lian Duoduo sat in a half-circle on the kang, while Lady He was bringing Lian Yaya onto the kang, taking off her shoes and socks, and placing her feet in front of Grandma Li Si.
Lian Yaya inherited her looks from Lady He, and her feet were the same: very broad and plump. Grandma Li Si grasped Lian Yaya’s foot, looking it over several times, then measured it with her hands.
"How old is Yaya?" Grandma Li Si asked.
"She turned nine this April," Lady Zhou answered.
"That’s too late to start binding," Grandma Li Si said.
"Otherwise we wouldn’t have asked for your help," Lady He said with a smile, "The year before last, that girl Hong Xia was eleven when you bound her feet, and everyone praised them, saying they looked like they had been bound since she was very young."
Grandma Li Si’s face twitched, and Lian Manman thought it must be a smile.
"That did take a lot of effort," Grandma Li Si said with a hint of pride in her voice.
"Yaya’s feet will require even more attention from you," Lady Zhou was also very polite to Grandma Li Si.
"To tell you the truth, Yaya might be nine, but her feet are too fat and too broad, even broader than Hong Xia’s when she was eleven, they won’t be easy to bind," Grandma Li Si said.
Lady Zhou glanced at Lady He with some dissatisfaction, as Lian Yaya’s feet resembled Lady He’s.
"Do you want the ordinary binding or the exquisite binding?" Grandma Li Si asked.
"Naturally, the exquisite one," Lady Zhou and Lady He said in unison.
Grandma Li Si then took out two pairs of lotus shoes from her bosom and placed them on the kang table. There were two pairs, one slightly larger than the other, and the smaller was only a bit larger than Lian Manman’s hand.
"These are the shoes I’ve prepared for Yaya. Are you satisfied with them?"
Several people, including Lady Zhou, passed the smaller pair around, clicking their tongues in admiration, clearly very satisfied.
"These are comparable to Huahua’s tiny feet," Lady He couldn’t hide her delight.
Lian Manman looked at Lian Yaya’s feet, then at the pair of lotus shoes. She couldn’t see any possibility that Lian Yaya’s feet could fit into such shoes. Even if both shoes were put together, it would be a struggle.
"There’s a method for the ordinary binding, and a method for the exquisite binding," Grandma Li Si said, as everyone was satisfied, "I didn’t expect Yaya’s feet to be so large already; the exquisite method might be a bit difficult."
"As long as her feet can be bound into this size, Yaya will be grateful to you for her whole life, and I will be convinced of your skill. Grandma, how about if I add another jin of eggs?" Lady Zhou said firmly.
Grandma Li Si’s face twitched again.
"I have the means, as long as you can also be hard-hearted. The pain is inevitable," said Grandma Li Si, glancing at Lian Yaya.
Lian Yaya sat there, looking confused and instinctively shuddered.
"We trust everything to your care," Lady Zhou said.
Lady He nodded, "My Yaya isn’t afraid of hardship. Aren’t you, Yaya?"
Lian Yaya looked up at Lady He, without speaking.
"Yaya, what did your mother tell you?" Lady He pinched Lian Yaya.
Only then did Lian Yaya nod, "I, I am not afraid of hardship."
Grandma Li Si picked up Lian Yaya’s foot again to examine it, and suddenly Lian Manman felt as if Lian Yaya’s sitting there was akin to a fish on a chopping board, with Grandma Li Si holding the knife, looking for where to start cutting. Lian Manman felt a chill and hurriedly took a stool and left.
"Manman, is the water ready?" Lady Zhou asked.
"It will be ready soon," Lian Manman said.
Lian Zhizhi and Lian Manman brought in a basin of hot water into the room and placed it on the kang. Grandma Li Si reached out to test the temperature of the water, nodded in approval, and Lady He put both of Lian Yaya’s feet into the basin.
Lian Yaya felt the water was a bit too hot and wanted to retract her feet, but Grandma Li Si stopped her with a look.
"The temperature should be like this, the next basin even hotter. Wash them well, soak them thoroughly, we need to change the water three times," Grandma Li Si said.
Grandma Li Si took out two pieces of bamboo from her bosom and said to Lady Zhou, "Yaya’s feet need to be bound beautifully, there is still one more thing needed."
"Please tell me, Grandma," Lady Zhou responded.
"Do you have any broken porcelain pieces at home? Crush them into smaller bits, about half a bowl’s worth," Grandma Li Si instructed.
"Broken porcelain pieces?" Lady Gu said in surprise, her admiration for Grandma Li Si growing.
"Seems like the Scholar’s wife understands," Grandma Li Si said.
"I’ve only heard about it, never seen it done before. Grandma, you indeed have a great method," Lady Gu remarked.
Manman didn’t understand why broken porcelain pieces were needed for foot binding.
"There’s a broken bowl buried under the peach tree in the back courtyard. Manman, go and smash it into half a bowl of broken porcelain pieces," Lady Zhou told Lian Manman.
"Grandma, let me do it. Manman doesn’t have enough strength," Lian Zhizhi said.
"The young lady’s strength is indeed weak; it’s better to find someone stronger. They need to be smashed even finer...," Grandma Li Si extended her little finger and gestured on the tip of her nail, "just bits as small as this."
"Let the second son’s wife do the smashing; have Zhizhi and Manman wash Yaya’s feet," Lady Zhou then said.
"Yes," Lady He agreed, heading out, showing uncommon enthusiasm for her daughter’s tiny feet.
Soon, Lady He returned with half a bowl of crushed porcelain pieces for Grandma Li Si to inspect. Grandma Li Si nodded, indicating they were satisfactory.
When it came to the third basin of water, Grandma Li Si rolled up her sleeves and personally washed Lian Yaya’s feet. To say she was simply washing the feet was not quite accurate; she was kneading them, and doing so with considerable force.
Lian Yaya cried out in pain.
"You can’t even tolerate this little pain; how will you manage later?" Grandma Li Si scolded her.
Lian Yaya looked around pitifully but found no one to protect her. She had no choice but to grit her teeth and bear it.
Finally, after Grandma Li Si had thoroughly felt Lian Yaya’s feet and was satisfied they had softened, she allowed Lian Yaya to dry her feet. She then soaked the blue cloth strips in the basin to wet them and sprinkled the porcelain shards over one side of the cloth. Since the cloth had been starched with rice paste, it was sticky when wet, so the porcelain pieces adhered to it.
"I’m going to start the binding now. Come over and help me hold her down so she doesn’t move," Grandma Li Si ordered.
Could it be that such a cloth strip was going to be used to bind Lian Yaya’s feet? Lian Manman was stunned.
Lian Zhizhi quickly took the basin and gave Lian Manman a meaningful look. The sisters hurried out. Just as they stepped outside, Lian Yaya began to scream. Lian Manman hesitated, but she couldn’t help lifting the door curtain to look inside.
Inside the room, a scene of torture unfolded...
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There will be a second update later this evening. I ask for recommendations and for you to add this to your collections.