Reborn as a Landlord-Chapter 67 - 39 - Trouble_1

Chapter 67: 39 Chapter Trouble_1
After that incident last time, Lian Huahua stopped mingling with the village girls. Who would come to find her at this time? She recognized the voice; it seemed a tad familiar. Lian Manman stood up and peered through the gauze window outside.
Yingzi was heading towards the Upper Room when she turned her head and saw Lian Manman.
"Manman, is Lian Huahua at home? I’m looking for her. You come along too," Yingzi said, hurrying towards the Upper Room while talking to Lian Manman.
Lian Manman gave a noncommittal grunt and sat back down on the kang bed.
"Why is Yingzi here?" Lian Zhizhi asked.
"Who knows? She seems a bit odd to me, like she’s really angry. And she’s in such a hurry—it doesn’t look like she’s here to play, rather like she wants...," Lian Manman thought for a moment, "rather like she’s here to pick a fight."
Outside, Yingzi didn’t enter the Upper Room; instead, she stopped right at its entrance.
"Lian Huahua, Lian Huahua, come out here," Yingzi called out at the doorway of the Upper Room.
"Is she really here to pick a fight with Lian Huahua?" Lian Manman raised an eyebrow.
"I’ll go have a look," Xiao Qi, who loved excitement, slid off the edge of the kang bed, ready to go outside.
"Xiao Qi, wait for me," Lian Manman quickly put her needlework aside, got off the kang bed, and put on her shoes.
"You’ve only stitched a few stitches, and you’re supposed to be learning needlework. You can’t sit still," Lady Zhang chided Lian Manman. She didn’t care about Yingzi coming to find Lian Huahua. In her eyes, Lian Huahua and Yingzi were just like Lian Zhizhi and Lian Manman—mere kids. Kid’s squabbles were hardly any concern; as adults, there was no need, nor was it appropriate to intervene.
With a smile, Lian Manman grabbed Xiao Qi and they both came out of the West Wing Room.
"Lian Huahua, I know you’re at home. If you don’t come out, don’t blame me for being rude. Daring to fool me—you’ve no idea who I, Yingzi, am. Whatever good deed you’ve done, I’ll make sure the entire village knows," Yingzi accused, pointing at the western house.
Lady Gu had gone to the town, and Lian Shouren was not at home at the moment, leaving only Lian Duoduo inside. Hearing Yingzi’s curses, she immediately ran towards the backyard to find Lian Huahua.
"Sister Huahua is surely still chatting with the old aunt in the back garden," said Xiao Qi to Lian Manman.
"Is that not Yingzi? What brings her ruckus to my home again? What do you want with Lian Huahua?" Lady Zhou emerged from the house, "You little girl, if you’ve got something to say, can’t you speak properly? How dare you shout and curse at my doorstep?"
"Madam," Yingzi addressed Lady Zhou, "Your Lian Huahua hasn’t been honest in her doings. If she doesn’t come out, I’ll just have to discuss the matter with elder. Also, Manman, come here; this concerns you as well."
Yingzi signaled for Lian Manman to come over.
Lian Manman didn’t move or respond.
"Ah, Yingzi, why are you here!" Lian Huahua hurried over from the back and, after a quick nervous glance over the faces of Lady Zhou and Lian Manman, she tried to appease Yingzi with a smile, "Yingzi, let’s go inside and talk, shall we?"
"Are you not avoiding me?" Yingzi said.
"I was just in the backyard, and as soon as Duoduo told me you were here, I rushed back. Look at you getting all worked up; we’re friends, anything you say goes, but it’s easily misunderstood by others. Come on, let’s go inside to talk," Lian Huahua said as she reached out to take Yingzi’s hand.
Yingzi shook off Lian Huahua’s hand.
"You should know why I’ve come. Let’s talk about it right here," she insisted.
Lian Huahua’s complexion turned a shade paler.
"Yingzi, give me some face. We can talk it over," Lian Huahua whispered into Yingzi’s ear.
"Mom, it’s nothing. Yingzi is just here to play with me," Lian Huahua appeased Lady Zhou in a low voice.
Lady Zhou snorted and turned back into the house.
Lian Huahua then pulled Yingzi towards the West Wing Room and closed the door tightly behind them.
Hmm, Lian Manman felt something was off. Usually, Lian Huahua looked down on village girls like Yingzi; so why was she being so polite to Yingzi today, as if she were...
"Sister Huahua must have some kind of leverage in Yingzi’s hands," she pondered.
"It’s just the matter with that broken jade piece; Yingzi was there too. But we’ve already notified their household, if they wanted to go public with it, they’d have to compensate together," Xiao Qi said.
Villagers often fear trouble and value their community bonds—they generally adopt a better-off-cooling-things-down attitude than making a fuss.
So did Lian Huahua have any other leverage in Yingzi’s hands?
"Shall we listen in and find out what’s going on?" Manman suggested, thinking about how Yingzi had deliberately brought her up earlier. She crouched down with Xiao Qi and crept to the window of the West Wing Room.
Before they could hear anything from inside, Lian Duoduo came out with a pout.
"What are you two up to?" Duoduo pointed at Lian Manman and Xiao Qi.
"What do you think I’m doing," Xiao Qi immediately straightened up, "Can’t my sister and I just walk around here?"